At the Labour Party's unofficial blog they allege corporate right wing media bias is afoot because of the 'deafening silence' about a speech given by John Key two months ago.
After all, both Labour & the EPMU (who have "no connection to the Labour Party") issued press releases about what Key said at a high-powered meeting with the Kerikeri District Business Association just before Christmas.
Surely this should be front-page news in mid-Feburary?
Or maybe there's a 'deafening silence' because it's such a obviously coordinated attempt at a diversion from the Owen Glenn saga.
If National-Lite had any spine, they would stand up and shine the light back on National's anonymous funders.
But it seems Labour's winning election strategy is to shy away from the issue and look like they have something to hide..
The height of this ridiculousnesses with the PM not shaking Owen Glenn's hand at the opening of the Auckland Business School he paid for!
Why is the PM of New Zealand kowtowing to a bunch of journalists who spend too much time reading kiwiblog?
A guy openly bankrolls your party and your former university's business school, and you reward him by chaining him to Mad Dog Mallard?
Fuck them, you're the fucking Prime Minister, shake his fucking hand and smile like you mean it.
It makes for a marked contrast between the two party leaders, Our Great Leader Helen does want to be seen with a businessman that has made millions of dollars of donations to her and the country, and yet John Key will hold hands with the head of a Maori Mafioso and hongi with a dodgy activist awaiting trial on firearms offenses.
Extreme naivety vs Hardened cynicism, what a choice we have this year.
Showing posts with label Labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Labour. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Headline with a pun based on the word poll
Another bad poll for Labour in the Dom Post today. National with a sizable 23-point lead.
I must take issue with the analysis of the results though.
Or maybe INTEREST FREE STUDENT LOANS AND RETAINING KIWISAVER.
No, of course, the rise in voter support has be as a result of the narrative our serious and well-respected journalists create. Silly voters don't care about saving or earning thousands of dollars in interest over a lifetime, what they care about is Tame Iti, boot camps and the 20 seconds of John Key's opening day speech they saw on the news.
The DomPost also claims "The plunge in her support is likely to spark speculation of a leadership coup." (against Helen Clark)
Why?
Her preferred PM rating is 29%, her party's is at 32%, A difference of just three points, yet National is the preferred party of 55% in this poll, while Key only has 44% support for preferred PM, a difference of 11 points.
Labour have a lot of 'issues' to resolve this year, but Clark's leadership is definitely not one of them.
I must take issue with the analysis of the results though.
One in four of National's support base have switched to the party this year. That suggests Mr Key easily won the early election year jousting - at Waitangi, over boot camps for young offenders in his state of the nation speech, and at the opening of Parliament.
Or maybe INTEREST FREE STUDENT LOANS AND RETAINING KIWISAVER.
No, of course, the rise in voter support has be as a result of the narrative our serious and well-respected journalists create. Silly voters don't care about saving or earning thousands of dollars in interest over a lifetime, what they care about is Tame Iti, boot camps and the 20 seconds of John Key's opening day speech they saw on the news.
The DomPost also claims "The plunge in her support is likely to spark speculation of a leadership coup." (against Helen Clark)
Why?
Her preferred PM rating is 29%, her party's is at 32%, A difference of just three points, yet National is the preferred party of 55% in this poll, while Key only has 44% support for preferred PM, a difference of 11 points.
Labour have a lot of 'issues' to resolve this year, but Clark's leadership is definitely not one of them.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Bastardisation of Kiwisaver
The mysterious 'Superpoints' brand was launched at the A1GP in Taupo recently, many a puzzled spectator wondered what the product was. A visit to their website gave little away.
It's seems 'Superpoints' is a new customer loyalty scheme, that will piggyback on Kiwisaver accounts.
This just seems crazy.
Should taxpayer's money in the form of $1000 Kiwisaver 'kick-start' be used to gain market share from FlyBuys and other customer loyalty schemes?
Is it really fair that workers currently in a kiwisaver scheme are forced to save 4% of their income to get the $1,000 bonus, while non-workers will seemingly be able to access the $1,000 through a customer loyalty scheme.
And is this a Labour Party election-yearbribe initiative ?
Or maybe there's a misunderstanding on my part about Kiwisaver, which I thought was meant to be a voluntary retirement saving scheme for working New Zealanders with contributions from the employee, the employer and the state, not a (partially) tax-payer funded customer loyalty program designed to get people to buy more crap at the petrol station.
It's seems 'Superpoints' is a new customer loyalty scheme, that will piggyback on Kiwisaver accounts.
Every New Zealand home will receive SuperPoints cards and an information pack in the mail.
SuperPoints is a new type of customer card designed to help all New Zealanders take advantage of earning points from a lifetime of shopping. These points get converted to cash and added to the fund, to help grow your money on top of the $1,000 kick-start from the Government to start your personal super fund for when you retire. Your points never expire. Over time funds will compound and can grow into thousands of dollars for retirement at age 65. The funds are held by Guardian Trust and advised by New Zealand's most expert and well-established organisations.
SuperPoints gives the opportunity to make voluntary contributions into the fund whenever people choose. This is done through technology that will be available in any shop displaying the SuperPoints sign.
The first step to financial freedom is collecting the free $1,000 kickstart, thanks to the combination of the SuperPoints card and KiwiSaver.
This just seems crazy.
Should taxpayer's money in the form of $1000 Kiwisaver 'kick-start' be used to gain market share from FlyBuys and other customer loyalty schemes?
Is it really fair that workers currently in a kiwisaver scheme are forced to save 4% of their income to get the $1,000 bonus, while non-workers will seemingly be able to access the $1,000 through a customer loyalty scheme.
And is this a Labour Party election-year
Or maybe there's a misunderstanding on my part about Kiwisaver, which I thought was meant to be a voluntary retirement saving scheme for working New Zealanders with contributions from the employee, the employer and the state, not a (partially) tax-payer funded customer loyalty program designed to get people to buy more crap at the petrol station.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Labour 1, National 2 aet
National has made another step towards becoming part of mainstream New Zealand by adopting Labour's policy for interest-free student loans.
This will mean the thousands of people who have a student loan can vote for a change in government knowing they aren't going to get fucked over by their loan in the future.
So why are National trying to bury it with 'dead rat' spin at a junket in Rotovegas?
Later this year Labour will have no shame when it comes to trumpeting their newly found love of personal tax cuts even though they are ideologically opposed to it.
If National's reasoning is because "we lost the last election" then why not just adopt all of Labour's policies and invite Our Great Leader Helen to take over a grand coalition and become PM for Life, and Honest John can go back to buying ghastly houses.
This policy will win National far more votes than that 'boot camp' garbage, all we voters ask is a little bit of (fake) sincerity when selling it, be happy about it!, it's your damn policy, you can always blame Brash/English,/Shipley/Richardson for the past.
This will mean the thousands of people who have a student loan can vote for a change in government knowing they aren't going to get fucked over by their loan in the future.
So why are National trying to bury it with 'dead rat' spin at a junket in Rotovegas?
Later this year Labour will have no shame when it comes to trumpeting their newly found love of personal tax cuts even though they are ideologically opposed to it.
If National's reasoning is because "we lost the last election" then why not just adopt all of Labour's policies and invite Our Great Leader Helen to take over a grand coalition and become PM for Life, and Honest John can go back to buying ghastly houses.
This policy will win National far more votes than that 'boot camp' garbage, all we voters ask is a little bit of (fake) sincerity when selling it, be happy about it!, it's your damn policy, you can always blame Brash/
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Clark 1, Key 0.
The 2008 election wrestling season is underway after Honest John Key and Our Great Leader Helen gave 'state of the nation' speeches on successive days, and result is John Key and National still don't look ready to govern.
'Boot Camps' (although that's not how Key described them in his speech) is a tired old idea that is more suitable as the centerpiece of Winston First's election campaign than that of a potential governing party.
In Germany, a teenager was sent to an outsourced 'boot camp' in Siberia as it was a far cheaper option, perhaps Key could work out a deal with a struggling Pacific Island economy to run 'boot camps' there, in a similar way to which John Howard used Nauru to imprison asylum seekers.
Giving a 'discount' or 'voucher' for tertiary education to school drop-outs is a little insulting to the majority of students who work through the secondary school system and then face massive fees at the tertiary level. It gives the perception of being rewarded for bad behavior. The proposed system also seems easily open to corruption and unaccountability despite Key's assurances otherwise.
Labour's proposal on the other hand seems far more inclusive and perhaps even 'ambitious', rather than being an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff, an integrated apprenticeship system can engage the students before they get frustrated and drop out of the system, and of course it will help a large number of trade students, the vast majority of whom are not 'trouble-makers' and would not benefit under National's policy.
Which is the actual better policy for New Zealand means little compared to the reaction of the general public and the influence it has on the election, but I think Key's policy needed a bit more oomph to keep it in the minds of the average voter, perhaps packaging it with a populist issue like raising the drinking age to 20 would have worked better.
The funny thing is even if National wins the election, they'll end up implementing this Labour policy on apprenticeships in some form anyway.
'Boot Camps' (although that's not how Key described them in his speech) is a tired old idea that is more suitable as the centerpiece of Winston First's election campaign than that of a potential governing party.
In Germany, a teenager was sent to an outsourced 'boot camp' in Siberia as it was a far cheaper option, perhaps Key could work out a deal with a struggling Pacific Island economy to run 'boot camps' there, in a similar way to which John Howard used Nauru to imprison asylum seekers.
Giving a 'discount' or 'voucher' for tertiary education to school drop-outs is a little insulting to the majority of students who work through the secondary school system and then face massive fees at the tertiary level. It gives the perception of being rewarded for bad behavior. The proposed system also seems easily open to corruption and unaccountability despite Key's assurances otherwise.
Labour's proposal on the other hand seems far more inclusive and perhaps even 'ambitious', rather than being an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff, an integrated apprenticeship system can engage the students before they get frustrated and drop out of the system, and of course it will help a large number of trade students, the vast majority of whom are not 'trouble-makers' and would not benefit under National's policy.
Which is the actual better policy for New Zealand means little compared to the reaction of the general public and the influence it has on the election, but I think Key's policy needed a bit more oomph to keep it in the minds of the average voter, perhaps packaging it with a populist issue like raising the drinking age to 20 would have worked better.
The funny thing is even if National wins the election, they'll end up implementing this Labour policy on apprenticeships in some form anyway.
Friday, December 14, 2007
TVNZ poll will be 'superbad' for Labour
I heard yesteday that the opinion poll TVNZ is releasing in the weekend looks really bad for Labour. The poll was conducted over the past week or so, right in the middle of the EFB debacle.
It will be interesting to see just how much more soft support Labour have lost, and how close they are getting to 30% and just the 'hardcore' supporters.
Perhaps this poll along with their own (bad) internal polling might give Labour pause for a rethink and come up with some sort of face-saving compromise before the EFB vote on Tuesday.
Yeah Right.
It will be interesting to see just how much more soft support Labour have lost, and how close they are getting to 30% and just the 'hardcore' supporters.
Perhaps this poll along with their own (bad) internal polling might give Labour pause for a rethink and come up with some sort of face-saving compromise before the EFB vote on Tuesday.
Yeah Right.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
